sloper



T. SLOPER.

AEROPLANE WHEEL BEARING.

APPLICATION FILED IIILY 25.19I1.

1 ,3 1 3, 646. Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

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GIMMII OBS T. SLOPER.

AEROPLANE WHEEL BEARING.

APPLICATION FILED luLY 25.19z1.

1,313,646. Patented Aug. 1S), 1910.

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AEROPLANE-WHEEL BEARING.

Application filed July 25, 1917.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS SLOPER, a subject of the King of England, residing in Devizes, Wiltshire, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplane-Wheel Bearings, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to the bearings of wheels for aeroplanes or aircraft generally.

It will be appreciated that the wheels of aircraft are put to sudden strains of considerable intensity and the seizure of one of the wheels on its axle at such a time might have serious results.

'lhe object of the present invention is to provide against such seizure by the use of loose bearnig-bushes and to insure that such bushes shall no t be lost by falling from the wheel, as for instance when substituting one wheel for another or otherwise handling the wheels when removed from their supporting axles.

According to this invention, there is com: bined with an aircraft wheel-hub, loose bearing-bushes having exterior and interior bearing surfaces, and means for retaining them against endwise displacement from the hub when the axle is not in place, which means can be easily released and do not interfere with the rotation of the bushes in the hub.

Preferably the retaining-means employed is such as to enable the bushes to be removed Without the use of a tool, for example it may take the form of a spring-controlled detent which can be forced out from engagement with the bush by forcibly pulling the bush endwise out from the hub.

In the accompanying drawings Figu through a hub and bushes with their retaining-means constructed according to one method of`ca1rying out this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan of one end of the hub shown in Fig. l with the retaining-means for one bush in place;

Fig. 3 is a central vertical section through a hub and bushes with their retaining-means constructed according to another method of carrying out this invention, and

Fig. 4 is a plan of one end of the hub shown in Fig. 3 with the retaining-means for one bush in place.

The same letters indicate the same parts throughout the drawings.

The hub A may be in the form of a plain Specification of Letters Patent.

re 1 is a central vertical section Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

Serial No. 182,648.

'barrel having flanged ends A1 to receive spokes A2 foreconnection to the Wheel-rim. In the ends of the hub, bushes B, B1 (one in each end) are inserted. These bushes are nished to provide an exterior bearing-surface B2 for the hub and aninterior bearingsurface B3 for the axle.

The end of each bush has a flange B4 and the hub ends A1 are hollowed at A3 to receive this flange and a ball-bearing B5 mounted on the bush immediately behind the flange; the exterior end of each bush lies flush with the hub ends when the bushes are thrust home. The inner race-member of each ball-bearing is made a tight fit on the bush, so that when the bush is removed the ball-bearing comes away with it, the outer lrlace-member being less tightly litted in the Each bush has near its inner end a circumferential channel B, and mounted'in holes in the hub, alined to each of these channels, are balls C: The holes, which may be three in number for each bush, are conical, the larger opening being on the exterior side of the hub and the dimensions are such that the balls can project through the holes into the channel, as shown, but cannot pass through the hole when the bush B is removed. To hold each ball in place, a controlling spring Cl is riveted at C2 to the hub, which spring always presses the ball toward thev interior of the hub.

The axle upon which the wheel would be mounted is not shown in the drawings as this is not necessary for an explanation of the invention, but the bushes B are free to run on the axle. Normally the wheel will run on the ball-bearings B5 as these with the exterior bearing-surface B2 will usually offer less resistance to the movement of the hub than will the inner bearing-face B3 against the axle. If, however, either bush seizes in the hub, or one of the ball-bearings becomes so damaged as to resist rotation, the bush will then freely rotate on the axle, and thus locking of the Wheel at what may be a critical moment will be prevented. The retaining balls C in no Way prevent free rotation of the wheel-hub relatively to the bushes as they travel around in the channels B formed in the latter.

With loose bushes, however, the tendency is for one or other of the bushes to become displaced when the wheel is o' the axle, as for example when substituting one wheel for another, say for the purpose of tire or other repairs, or when a spare wheel is brought out of stock the bushes are likely to 4 be found missing. Any such loss of the when the wheels are not on their axles.

The removability of the bushes in addition to allowing of ready dismantling for repair purposes, permits the bushes to be easily changed for others having a dierent bore.

In Figs. 3 and 4, the hub D is provided with plain bushes E, the ball-bearing B5 of Figs. 1 and 2 being dispensed with. The

bushes E 'are finished with a bearing-surface on. the inside and on the outside so that the hub can either run on the exterior of the bushes or the bushes can run on the axle rotating with the hub according to the varying degrees of friction found between the axle and bushes or between the bushes and hub.

Each bush is provided with a flange E1 which limits the amount of endwise movement allowed it inward in the hub and when the flanges are home against the hub,

the ball-detents F engage the circumferential channels E2. The bush on the right of Fig. 3 is-shown partly removed. 1

What I claim asmy invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. For aircraft-wheels the combination of a wheel-hub, loose bearing-bushes one in each end having exterior and interior bearingsurfaces, and spring-controlled detents on the hub one for each bush, each detent en gaging an annular groove in the exterior face of its bush to retain it against endwise movement, for the* purpose set forth.

2. For aircraft-wheels thecombination of a wheel-hub, `loose bearing-bushes one in each end having exterior and interior bearing-surfaces, ball-detents at each end of the hub which balls project partly through the interior wallof the hub each into an annular' groove in the outer face of the bush to which the ball is allotted,v and springs one for each ball to keep them forward toward the bushes, the holes for the balls being too small to allow their passage through the hub, for the purpose set forth.

3. For aircraft-wheels the combination of a wheel-hub, loose y'bearing-bushes one in each end having exterior and interior bearing-surfaces and a flange at the outer end to limit their axial movement inward in the hub, and spring-controlled detents on the hub one for each bush, each detent engaging ran annular groove in the exterior face of its bush to retain it against endwise movement, for the purpose set forth.

4. For aircraft-wheels the combination of a wheel-hub, loose bearing-bushes one in each end having exterior and interior bearingsurfaces and an outwardly-directed flange at the outer end to limit their axial movement inward in the hub, ball-bearings one on the outer end of each bush immediately behind the aforesaid iange which bearing is accommodated ina recess in the end of the hub, and spring-controlled detents on the h'ub for each bush each detent engaging an annular groove in the exterior face of its bush to retain it against endwise movement, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have lsigned my name to this specification.

THOMAS SLOPER. 

